How to choose a clock and weather widget for Android: what matters

A good clock and weather widget is one you can read in a glance on your own wallpaper, that fits your home screen, shows the few things you actually check, and keeps itself up to date. Those four things matter more than the number of features in the app behind it. Here is what to check before you settle on one.

1. Can you read it at a glance?

The time and the temperature should be the largest things on the widget. Check it on your real wallpaper: white text on a pale photo disappears. Look for control over text colour and background transparency, so you can keep a see-through look on a dark wallpaper and add a little background on a busy one.

2. Does it fit your home screen?

Widgets are measured in home-screen cells: a 4×1 is one row across a typical screen, a 4×2 is two rows. A good app offers several sizes, from a slim clock-and-temperature strip to a larger widget with a forecast row, and lets you resize after placing it.

3. Does it show what you check?

Most people look at a widget for a handful of things. Decide which you want:

Time and date
Current temperature and conditions, and the feels-like temperature
Today’s high and low, or the chance of rain
A short hourly or daily forecast row
Your next alarm or calendar event

Tap actions matter too: tapping the time to open your alarms, or the weather icon to open the full forecast, saves steps every day.

4. Where does the forecast come from?

Every weather app gets its forecast from a provider. Different providers use different models and can disagree, especially about rain timing. Apps that let you choose the provider let you pick the one that matches your area best.

5. Will it warn you about bad weather?

Some apps pass on official warnings from national weather services; others create alerts from the forecast. Both are useful, but they are not the same thing; see how weather alerts work.

6. Does it handle more than one place?

If you care about home and work, or a family member elsewhere, check that you can save several places and give each widget its own location.

7. Do you have to share your location?

A weather app needs a place, not necessarily your GPS position. Prefer apps that let you type in a city instead of requiring location access, and read what their privacy policy says location is used for.

8. Will it keep updating?

Widgets refresh through a background task. Battery savers on some phones stop that task, which leaves a frozen clock or an old temperature. A well-maintained app publishes fixes for specific phones; if a widget freezes, set the app’s battery use to Unrestricted in your phone’s app settings. Our widget guide covers the details.

9. What does it cost?

Most widget apps are free with ads, with an optional subscription that removes the ads and adds features. Check that the widget you want is in the free version, and whether there is a one-time-purchase option if you dislike subscriptions.

Our two weather apps, side by side

	Transparent Clock & Weather	Local Weather Forecast & Radar
Best for	Designing your home screen	Reading the weather quickly
Platforms	Android	Android and iPhone
Widgets	15, many skins and icon packs	Current, hourly, daily, clock and weather
Forecast provider	Your choice of four	Foreca
Alerts	Severe weather alerts with Premium, using US National Weather Service warnings	Alerts worked out from the forecast
Price	Free, optional Premium or one-time Pro	Free, optional Premium